"Enemy attack! Water Dragon Bullet!"
Shiranui Genma shouted, the senbon nearly falling from his mouth.
Hyūga Ginka stood frozen, her face pale.
"How?" she whispered. "My Byakugan saw nothing..."
The attack wasn't just physical; it was a psychological slap to the face of the Hyūga Clan. Their absolute vision had failed.
"Earth Release: Earth-Style Wall!"
Kakashi was faster.
Dog. Snake. Tiger.
He slammed his palms onto the mud.
BOOM!
A thick stone rampart erupted from the ground.
CRASH!
Three massive water dragons smashed into the wall. Water sprayed like shrapnel, mud flew, and the ground shook. The wall groaned under the pressure, cracking, but it held.
Kiyohara glanced at the barrier.
Even in a life-or-death crisis, the wall was decorated with four distinct Bulldog carvings.
'Only Kakashi would waste chakra sculpting dogs during an ambush,' Kiyohara thought.
"Everyone, listen!" Kiyohara shouted over the roar of water.
"There is a Barrier or a Bloodline Limit interfering with the Byakugan! It's likely the Red Eye!"
Kakashi and Rin looked confused. They knew the Sharingan and Byakugan. They had heard legends of the Rinnegan. But Red Eye?
"It creates chakra phantoms and hides true signatures," Kiyohara explained rapidly. "Do not trust your sensors! Trust your ears and skin!"
Kiyohara deduced this through elimination.
In the Ninja World, almost nothing fools the Byakugan. The only known counter in the lore (besides the Moon Barrier) was Ranmaru's dōjutsu from the anime filler.
If the Mist was hitting a Hyūga squad this hard, they brought the hard counter.
In the distance, behind a distortion barrier.
Ao watched through a Water Mirror.
"Oh?"
His single eye widened.
"That kid... he knows about the Red Eye?"
This was highly classified Mist intel. How did a Konoha Chunin know?
Beside him, Mei Terumī leaned forward.
Her emerald eyes locked onto Kiyohara's reflection in the water.
"What a sinful man," she purred, licking her lips. "With a face that handsome... I almost can't bear to melt him."
Mei had two weaknesses: Strong men, and handsome men. Kiyohara was checking boxes.
"Do not show mercy," Ao warned, glancing at the future Mizukage. "Kill the medics and the Hyūga first."
"Kill them!"
The command was given.
The mist thickened. It became a soup of white, reducing visibility to zero.
"Damn it! Don't underestimate the Hyūga!"
Hyūga Nobuhiko roared. He felt mocked.
He stepped out from behind the Earth Wall, assuming the Gentle Fist stance.
"Eight Trigrams..."
But he couldn't see.
The Red Eye created false chakra signals. The Mist blocked physical light.
He was swinging at ghosts.
"Ha! You Hyūga are trash without your eyes!"
A scarred Mist Jonin, Chitai, burst from the fog.
Swish.
A Kunai thrust at Nobuhiko's chest. The Hyūga parried blindly, panic setting in. He was instantly suppressed.
At the same time, three shadows bypassed the frontline.
They headed straight for the girl with the red medic markings.
Rin.
The Sword.
"Protect Rin!" Kakashi shouted.
He was engaged by two Chunin. Lightning flared in his hand, but he was pinned down.
"Rin, fall back!"
Kiyohara moved.
Clang.
He drew the Chakra Conduction Tachi from his back. The blue ripple pattern on the blade hummed.
"Ao..."
The Swordsman Spirit hissed in Kiyohara's mind. The voice dripped with hatred.
"He's nearby. I feel his Chakra. North-East."
'Calm down,' Kiyohara ordered internally. 'We deal with the trash first.'
Three Mist Ninja lunged at Rin.
Kiyohara stepped in.
The first ninja swung a sword.
Kiyohara didn't block. He stepped into the guard—a technique from the Spirit.
He flicked his wrist.
Slice.
The Tachi severed the ninja's wrist tendons. The weapon dropped.
A Kunai stabbed at his ribs.
Kiyohara's core twisted. He drifted back half a step, like a willow in the wind. The blade missed by a millimeter.
He thrust.
Puff.
The blade pierced the second ninja's throat. Clean. Efficient.
The third ninja froze, horrified by the speed.
Kiyohara channeled chakra to his feet.
"Body Flicker Technique (Shunshin)!"
ZWOOSH.
He vanished.
He reappeared behind the third ninja.
Horizontal Slash.
Crack.
The spine was severed.
In three breaths, three Chunin were dead.
Rin stared at Kiyohara's back, her eyes wide. He stood over the bodies, the blue-tinted sword dripping blood.
"Kakashi!"
Kiyohara flicked the blood off his blade.
"The Commander is nearby. They are organized. We need to cut off the head."
"Ao is mine," the Spirit growled.
"Understood," Kakashi nodded, finishing off his own opponent with a lightning-infused punch.
He looked at Kiyohara.
'His swordsmanship... it's completely different from before. It's lethal.'
"Lead the way," Kakashi said.
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